Hello- next time I'm invited to a climate change dinner, I'm bringing the candles. I found 2 sets of spermaceti candles while cleaning out my grandmother's apartment.

The last set I could find on ebay sold for $110. They are real, from Nantucket, and old. I would love to horrify some greenie.

I think we will just burn them at Thanks Giving or some other family meal while my grandmother is still with us.

It took me a moment. Those have got to be rare.

I think they are pretty rare. Maybe I can start a group called cetaceans for climate change. Global cooling has caused an obesity crisis for the whales.

The Peabody Museum in Salem or the New Bedford Whaling Museum may be interested in them.

My family has a fair bit of whaling antiques. Scrimshaw, un-cut whales' teeth, harpoons, killing lances, cutting spades, etc. I have to figure out what to do with them, as my kids have no interest.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: ArtieS,

quote:

The Peabody Museum in Salem

Man, we used to go there all the time when I was a kid. Some really neat stuff there.
Of course, it helped that we lived straight down 114 from there.

I don't know you, but I like you.

RMD

Oh you mean some C15H31COO-C16H33 candles. Nice find - enjoy them with grandma maybe she has a story to tell about them to pass down.

quote:

Originally posted by DJ_Boston:
I would love to horrify some greenie.

I could easily see an historian, professional or amateur, regretting the destruction of the rare relics of a bygone era, but someone whose only interest is in protecting animals from unnecessary exploitation and harm today—? Are you aware of what’s commonly done with animal products like poached ivory these days? (Hint: It’s just what you’re proposing to do with those candles: they’re burned up.)

But to return to your original plan, you could make it much more effective, I believe, if you just kept the candles displayed in a prominent place and labeled them to identify their source. How ’bout something like:
“These candles were made long ago from a substance obtained from the head of a great and majestic animal—ha, ha! Too bad we can’t do the same thing today but are rather forced to rely on petroleum and plant products for the same purposes that we once relied on sperm whale oil for.”

I am always reluctant to do irreversible things. They're not making more of them, so rather than using them up or giving them away, I like sigfreund's idea of keeping them and making a sort of display or shrine. Maybe you could ask your grandmother to say a few words about the history of those candles at a family event as a sort of dedication.

One way to make it a gift that keeps on giving (irritation to the politically correct.)

Now that my wife is getting involved, she is inclined to sell them. I'm not sure I want to sell them. Burning them to destroy them isn't something I would want to do.

Her other thought is to put them on display along with the sealskin Eskimo doll I was given as a baby. She likes the idea of winding up the lefties too.

They are candles, and meant to be burned. Supposedly they burn particularly bright. so if they see a spark, it would be for pleasure.

There is no real interesting story behind them, other than my grandmother bought them, and kept them in the dining room hutch. I was probably with her when she bought them, which would make them 40+ years old.

The most interesting part is that why would someone hold onto candles for so long????

I don't know if they burn brighter, but it is my impression they burn cleaner.

But I think they are verging on being artifacts now. I'd save them, or give them to a whaling museum.

Yargh!!

quote:

Originally posted by DJ_Boston:
Now that my wife is getting involved, she is inclined to sell them.

I would tread with caution since I believe this is a Federal issue- While it might be legal to sell them it also might be illegal to ship them across state lines. Marine Mammals etc........

I was looking into a knife with scales made from a Sperm Whale Jaw Bone. I learned a lot about sperm whales- They are amazing. I decided some things were better left alone.

I think your candles are cool, esp. since your grandmother is still around. BUT

My dog recently fetched me up a piece of floatsam on the beach. I believe it may have been a small piece of Ambergris. Research quickly showed that if it was Ambergris that it is illegal to sell or possess such a thing. It may even be illegal to pick it up if you recognize it on the beach it appears. I'm not a lawyer and that shit confuses me, but naturally I tossed it back in the ocean. Be careful with the candles.

Here's an auction house website with info (except the value) on the spermy candles...

https://www.worthpoint.com/wor...-nantucket-252896780

Along those lines, probably some 50 years ago my family was into buying and selling antiques. My father bought a pair of oil lamps that still had oil in them. Lighting one he found it had whale oil in it. Said it smelled like hamburger cooking. Ever since I have thought of finding some whale oil just to see what it smells like when burning. In my searching I have yet to find any to buy.

In your case I would obviously be interested in lighting a candle just to see it and smell it. It might be a fragrance that was extremely common in New England houses 150 years ago.

I would save the candles for a special occasion, lighting one only briefly, in reference and reverence to our past.

quote:

Originally posted by ArtieS:
The Peabody Museum in Salem or the New Bedford Whaling Museum may be interested in them.

My family has a fair bit of whaling antiques. Scrimshaw, un-cut whales' teeth, harpoons, killing lances, cutting spades, etc. I have to figure out what to do with them, as my kids have no interest.

no lie, those are cool as hell. You used to use a stick to kill something that outweighed your vessal by how much? Hell I'd take'm if I was your kids.

Of course I live inland, and we never see any of this stuff. I've got to use the internet to buy Bayberry candles. Bayberries aren't marine animals. I agree with the poster who suggested lighting one on a special occasion, like Thanksgiving or Christmas. Just for a few seconds so you can experience it. Even with your family.